Twin
by Sydella
Summary: Belphegor fights Rasiel one last time. Slight Bel x Mammon.


The prince was bored. Mammon was nowhere to be found, and all the other Varia officers were either quarrelling amongst themselves or preoccupied with work. Even the grunts were too busy to entertain him. Belphegor wandered around the Varia's headquarters, hoping to find something interesting to do, but nothing held his interest. Disappointed, he decided to go for a walk.

He had not gone far, and was wandering through a small forest near the Varia's headquarters, when someone suddenly leapt out from behind a tree and ambushed him. Fortunately for Belphegor, years of training and experience as an assassin kicked in instantly and he fended off his assailant with practiced ease. Leaping backwards with catlike grace, he got a good look at his assailant. A chill ran down his spine.

_Rasiel_.

"Surprised to see me, little brother?" Belphegor's older twin brother taunted.

_Surprised _was an understatement. After receiving memories from Yuni about an alternate future in which Rasiel had been killed-by Belphegor's own boss, no less-the sight of the older twin prince was like a punch to Belphegor's stomach. Granted, he _had _briefly considered the possibility that Rasiel had survived after Yuni's and Gamma's deaths reset everything, but had dismissed the notion. Now, Rasiel's lips curled up in a feral smile not unlike Belphegor's own.

"I've been waiting for an opportunity to finish you off once and for all, little brother," Rasiel proclaimed gleefully. "You Varia bastards really should consider tightening your security. Apparently, I'm able to trespass in your organization's premises undetected. And you call yourselves assassins?"

Belphegor did his best to hide his annoyance. Well, it wasn't _his _fault that his elders chose to spend more time yelling at each other than attending to important matters such as security. More than once, he had suggested stationing guards around the Varia's headquarters, only for his words to fall on deaf ears as Squalo waved his sword threateningly, Levi busied himself with his Lightning Squad, Lussuria fretted over household chores and Boss was simply too drunk to care. Mammon did pay attention, but being an Arcobaleno, he was (physically, at least) even younger than Belphegor, and thus had even less say.

"Well, we'd be perfectly capable of defending ourselves even if someone did manage to sneak into our headquarters," Belphegor retorted. "Anyway, if you want to kill me, you'd better get in line. I'm an assassin. People try to kill me, I kill them, and life goes on."

Rasiel clenched his jaw. "I will have my revenge," he snarled. "Today is the day you meet whatever dim-witted god allowed you to be born."

Belphegor smirked. "Go ahead. Give me your best shot."

Without another word, the twin princes began circling each other, like two predators sizing each other up before going in for the kill. And go in for the kill they did. They lunged at each other at exactly the same time and mirrored each other's movements.

"Twins to the end, aren't we, Belphegor?" Rasiel yelled madly. "Look at how we're moving! Doesn't it make you miserable to know that I've always everything _you _had, and more?" Furiously, they threw knives at each other, and soon the air was filled with the coppery scent of blood.

Seething, Belphegor ducked as yet another knife came arcing through the air towards him. "It did make me miserable for a while," he snarled. "But I've made a new life for myself, and you can't take that away from me. Who do you think killed our parentsji, huh? You didn't believe I was capable of that, did you?"

"Oh, I would believe the worst of you, little brother. Always have, always will." Rasiel clutched a wound in his side in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. Breathing heavily, they eyed each other warily from beneath their long, matching bangs. The surrounding forest fell silent, as if even the animals sensed what was going to happen next. Slowly, the twin princes both revealed one remaining knife.

"To think that, earlier today, I was feeling bored," Belphegor mused out loud. "This is really entertaining."

"This is not a game, Belphegor," Rasiel snapped.

"Oh, I know that very well." Belphegor's voice was cold. "Go on, then. Try to kill me. I dare you."

Those last three words, _I dare you_, the same words that had started many a childhood competition, spurred Rasiel into action. He prepared to throw his sole remaining knife. However, the Varia had ruthlessly trained Belphegor to be an extraordinary killer, and even Rasiel was no match for Belphegor's well-honed viciousness. Before Rasiel could throw his own knife, before he even had time to react, Belphegor's knife whizzed through the air and lodged itself in Rasiel's chest. Blood spurted from the wound.

Rasiel's mouth opened in a large O of surprise and he toppled forward like a falling domino, landing face-first on the ground. Belphegor turned him over and bent to retrieve the knife, grimacing at the squelching sound that was produced as the knife was pulled out. Rasiel's lips moved, but no sound emerged. Belphegor watched impassively as life drained out of his twin. Seconds later, Rasiel was clearly dead. As a last act of victory, Belphegor pried loose Rasiel's tiara, snapped it in half, dropped the split halves and ground them beneath his boots. Without the tiara, Rasiel looked just like any other human. A punishment fit for a fallen king.

Belphegor straightened, swaying slightly. Then, to his surprise and dismay, tears welled up in his eyes. _Why am I crying? _he asked himself, but no answer was forthcoming. He stared at his twin's corpse, the sight of the prone figure blurred by his tears. _Oh, my brother. _Born on the same day and conceived by the same parents, they could have been allies, maybe even friends, but it was too late, far too late. The seeds of their mutual hatred had been planted long ago.

Belphegor didn't know long he stood there, unmoving, by his dead twin's side. When Mammon returned from wherever he had been, the sun was beginning to set and carrion birds were circling in the sky.

"I see you've had an eventful day," Mammon remarked.

Belphegor blinked and raised his head. "There you are, Mammon," he muttered, wiping away the last of his tears. "Where were you?"

"I was at a meeting with the other Arcobaleno." Mammon peered at Rasiel's corpse. "We're going to have to get the corpse disposal team to get rid of him. I don't think Lussuria will want to collect him." He spoke with clinical detachment.

"Don't leave me, baby. You're much better at being family than that guy ever was." Belphegor couldn't bring himself to say Rasiel's name. He resisted an urge to kick his twin's corpse and instead focused on Mammon. The mist Arcobaleno hovered in mid-air, face expressionless as usual.

Belphegor reached out and pulled his pint-sized companion into his arms. Mammon squirmed, but Belphegor refused to let go. Eventually, the Arcobaleno relented and, settling comfortably into Belphegor's embrace, replied: "Don't be ridiculous. I'm not going anywhere."

Belphegor rested his chin on top of Mammon's head. "Good."

They looked at the Varia's headquarters, a massive, palatial building that waited patiently for their return. At home, over dinner, Boss would throw wineglasses at Squalo, who would yell and chop things up to express his rage, Levi would try to do something cool to impress Boss and end up embarrassing himself, and Lussuria would wail something about never cooking for them again, only to make another attempt the next day, determined to whip up dishes that everyone would enjoy _this _time. It was all so predictable, a madcap routine that was necessary for the assassins to express affection in their own eccentric way. In due course, the Varia's corpse disposal team would do their job, no questions asked. Rasiel would never bother Belphegor again. A small smile appeared on Belphegor's face.

"Let's go," he said.

"Agreed." Mammon shifted slightly. "If memory serves, Italian cuisine is on the menu tonight."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. If Lussuria's cooking is even worse than usual, I'll tell the others you're sick. You know they won't care."

Belphegor held on to Mammon even more tightly. "Well, we'll see."

And they went home without a backwards glance.


End file.
